The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1887-11-25

| UongCnf nosvoe 1vepuuhe - onp u.Vouu0un
srOver Ton - Dynansiee-The 1sulas-
he 4 Was nsoged 81 aad HiH Human De-
inGs Literally Annlhllntcsl--A Startled
ard uosrioed Community.
HAHcocx. Mich. Nov. 17.-ThI1> town
and Hooghton were startled lust before
noon yssferday By The sound q what was
first believed 70 be the explosion Of ono %
number % the large powdcr-houscs that
are situated Just outside the town limits.
The noise Mas terrific. shook tho town a.
II by IN earthquake. and a. once tho
streets were allied with excited people,
mono Of whom knew certainly what had
happened. hut nearly al Of whom hurried
toward the powder houses with blnnchcd
faces and trembling limbs. Arriving there.
y was soon seen that mono Of them had
blown up, and the crowd separated into
small parties. who hurried from one part
Of the town 70 another, endeavoring 20
solve the mystery. Across Portage lake.
half-mIe distant, the people Of Hough-
ton could BE- seen running half frantic In
oil directions, and evidently a. puzzled a.
the people Of Hancock 20 know the origin
Of the explosion. No one could bs certain
from what direction the noise came, a. Il
had been 90 tremendous a. 20 give one q
feeling that Il had filled the air for
miles.
As one o'clock approached. however,
the wife Of William Lapp came up 70 one
group, who were excitedly discussing the
explosion. and asked II any ona had
thought that something might have hap.
pensd ~ the chemical works. where her
husband had worked. with others, making
dynamite. The men she addressed acted
for . moment . II paralyxed NJ tho
thought Of IN explosion occurring there.
and then. with Mrs. Lapp, started Tor tho
works. They are. or were. located four
miles out Of town and not far from tho
lake.
Arriving there the party were astounded
nt what they saw, or rather because there
was nothing whatever 10 see. The pack.
ing house Of the chemical works had been
~ cleanly swept from the face % the
earth - though Il had never existed nt
all. AZ first, expecting to see &C least
fragments, those present could see
nothing whatever. but on arriving on
what had been the site Of the works tiny
spIInters Of wood and here and there
minute fragments Of the iron roof were
found, but not . BIT OF bone. q
droy OF blood or . shred OF flesh
remained Of the six persons who were
working In the packing-works at the time
These persons were: Willie Remand.
Charles Burkett. Thomas Thompson. Tim
Crowley and Willie King, all boys be-
tween fifteen and eighteen years q age,
and VIM. Lamp, Jr. married man. who
leaves widow and one child. All were
known IN both Hancock and Houghton.
Just where the building stood was hole.
confcal In shape. and about twelve feet
1eep, and In this the sand was packed a.
hard as cement, showing the force OF the
explosion.
The packing-bouse was . small one, aud
situated at q distance % 4 quarter OF q
mile from the other buildings OF the
works. Every building was more or less
shattered, and the employees who wer3
nearest describe the explosion as all but
stunning them out Of their senses. Sew
sral were Knocked down. but escaped with
= few bruises. They describe the explo-
sion as an awful convulsion. and
say the packing -house disappeared
IN q great ball OF smoke. and
that no fragments could be seen.
They were too frightened 90 come 90 town
and give an alarm. but ran about almost
hoping TO come upon some one
of the persons who had been at work il
the building. There WAS about 1.Go0
pounds Of dynamite in the packing -house,
and the persons working there were simply
the boxes Of the explosive
TO secure more storage room. Just what
caused the explosion Will, Of course. never
b. known. 4
Fatal accidents are common In this,
copper mining district. but an explosion
which has killed six persons. leaving not I
even : fragment. 20 far as yet known, Of
any Of them. strikes tho town - an APP /
palling tragedy. The usual occupations |
Of the people are forgotten. and hundreds
stand about the neighborhood Of the &C
cident fascinated as q the scene Of
horrible murder.
Joseph Labelle, foremsu OF the works. I
had left the packing house before the ex-
pIosion, and was not one hundred feet \
from IL " hen Il went up. He was thrown \
10 the ground and stunned, but his in \
juries will not prove fatal. He II at
loss 90 account for the explosion.
The glyceriue house and laboratory, \
which stood only . short distance away.
were totally wrecked. and several large
iron acid tanks, standing several rods
from the packing. house, were blown C)9
feet into the forest, where they were
found twisted out Of all shape. The main
buildings Of the company luckily escaped
serious damage.
Search was begun at noon for the
bodies Of the six victims. and continued
By friends and curiosity-seekers until
nightfalL All that was found was
dozen scraps Of human flesh OF the six Of
} half dollar.
Foreman 1.nbelIe says there was over
ION Of dynamite in the packing house.
The force Of the explosion was felt thirty
miles distant, and in tho two villages Of
Houghton and Hancock, four miles from
the chemical works, tho damages % plate
glass and buildings will aggregate many
hundreds Of dollars The loss to the
Hancock Chemical Company will bc
rery heavy-<i0.OOO at lea&, perhaps
more. The scene about the wrecked build
ing from . few minutes after the ex.
,Iosion until nightfaIl were heartrending.
Fathers, mothers. relatives and sweet
iearts OF the victims were on the ground
earchlng for their dead, but tho shreds Of
Iesh or bone could not be Identified.
Engine ana ThIrteen Cars Wrecked.
RATTLE CnErx Mich. Nov. 16-As q